Paper is Dropbox’s attempt to dethrone Google Docs

Dropbox is taking its collaborative, Google Docs-like tool, called Notes, which has been in beta since earlier this year, and renaming it Paper while also expanding the beta, though you still need an invite to try it. You log in with your Dropbox account, with only basic formatting options (seriously, there’s only one font and three sizes).

As part of the web app’s expansion, the company has lifted the curtain on a few new Paper features as well as revealed how the update interface looks and works, according to Engadget.

It seems like in the coming months Dropbox will mostly want you to use Paper for organising and sharing all your files in one place instead of your actual Dropbox cloud storage account.

As you’ve heard, today we’re beginning to expand the beta for Dropbox Paper, our real-time collaboration tool built for teams. You can set a list of Favorites to mark which files or folders or people you visit most often, and you’ll have your own profile just as you would with any other social networking sort of site. “Beyond text, users can insert images, code, tables and even to-do lists complete with “@” mentions to identify who is in charge of completing a certain task.

When asked what differentiates Paper from other similar tools, Pan said that Paper, unlike most other tools, primarily focuses on building documents that let users work and share multiple content types regardless of what tool was used to create them. Simply copy-pasting the sharing URL and pasting into Paper would show up a preview of the file.

As for media content, simple drag and drop gestures would let users add photos on Paper. You can add comments, too.

You also get quick shortcuts for saving items into your favourites sidebar and you’ll be prompted to put the document into a folder when you create one. But Paper is also entering a field crowded with big names like Google and Microsoft (and Dropbox has even spent lots of time partnering with the latter company as of late). Multiple users can work on a document.

He cited Paper as a way to collaborate that keeps things from getting overly “messy” in terms of both clean design and organization. ‘Creation and collaboration are only half the problem, ‘ he said. “The other half is how information is organized and retrieved across an entire company”.

Dropbox is aiming to get “thousands of users to thousands of businesses and teams”.

Dropbox’s enterprise product is seeing a few traction, but the company seems like it’s falling behind as its competitors develop better file syncing for their products.